Contents

History

Initial album art

Bleedthrough

The initial concept of the album was an exploration of “loss and possible discovery of self, along with alternate layers of reality and perception set inside a nightmare you can't seem to wake up from; with lots of feedback”. Around this time mysterious quotes and binary codes appeared on the NIN website, including a passage from the book The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin, containing the phrase "bleed-through". The working title for With Teeth was Bleedthrough, referencing the phenomenon of audio bleed-through. In a question posted in the Access section of nin.com Reznor announced that the working title “Bleedthrough” had been dropped. Reznor stated that the name was changed because "it was supposed to be about different layers of reality seeping into the next, but I think some people were thinking about blood or a tampon commercial". "'Bleedthrough' is no more," Reznor wrote in a message posted on nin.com, "as the songs and concepts matured, the focus and theme of the album shifted somewhat--leaving me feeling that title was inappropriate. Or you could just say I changed my mind. Yes, the new album has a title and track list, and no I'm not telling you what it is yet".

With Teeth

Reznor commented on the change of direction for the album, stating that "About five or six songs into writing it, the songs started to sound good on their own and they didn't need this framework to work together,” and that With Teeth consists of "a collection of songs that are friends with each other, but don't have to rely on each other to make sense", however, the album's narrative arc describes "a difficult journey that begins with a nightmare and ends with acceptance of a new reality.”[1]

In an interview in February 2004 Reznor stated that the new material was “more song-oriented (than The Fragile). It's much more lean. It's going to be twelve good punches in the face -- no fillers, no instrumentals, just straight to the point…It's a complicated concept record, but reduced to just simple songs. It's not epic in its scope. It's minimal and a bit brutal." The album's new, and ultimately final title is a reference to a Broadside Electric album of the same name

According to a statement on nin.com, Reznor stated that producer Rick Rubin was Reznor's "mentor" and "source of inspiration" throughout the planning and writing process of the album. Reznor was also heavily inspired by the use of more analog electronic effects and instruments, specifically tape delay and modular synthesizers, stating that "computers, among other things, are ruining music these days. I hate the Pro Tooled sound of perfection and everything being 'fixed.' This record is most definitely 'un-fixed."

Themes

With Teeth, unlike most Nine Inch Nails albums, does not have a unified concept and deals with a variety of themes. Reznor wrote the album after overcoming undisclosed addictions and settling legal issues with his former manager, John A. Malm, Jr.:

"A lot of this was [about] my relationship with myself, the world at large, and where I might fit into that...Also [it's about] my relationship to a disease that's going to kill me if I don't deal with it, and I came very close to that. Hopefully disguised enough that it's not a terribly boring record about recovery and addiction and that nonsense."

Reznor seemingly gained a new awareness of world issues, and showed this by speaking out against the US Government, as well as becoming a spokesperson for PETA. Some songs seem to deal with addiction ("With Teeth," "Sunspots"), while others have a more political intent ("The Hand That Feeds," "Right Where It Belongs").

Tour edition & DualDisc

In the US, a DualDisc version of With Teeth was released. A version referred to as the 'Tour Edition' was released in the UK, with the CD and DVD as separate discs. It came in a jewel case and had the same cover art as the DualDisc.

DualDisc CD side/Tour Edition CD includes:

With Teeth CD audio

DualDisc DVD side/Tour Edition DVD includes:

Entire album in 5.1 surround sound

Entire album in high resolution stereo and 5.1 surround on DVD-Audio players

Entire album in Dolby Digital Stereo and 5.1 surround on standard DVD players

Music video: "The Hand That Feeds"

Image slide show during DVD-Audio playback

Body Of Work section with selected audio and video clips from NIN’s catalog

2x12" Vinyl

A1 "All The Love In The World"
A2 "You Know What You Are?"
A3 "The Collector"
A4 "The Hand That Feeds"

B1 "Love Is Not Enough"
B2 "Every Day Is Exactly The Same"
B3 "With Teeth"

C1 "Only"
C2 "Getting Smaller"
C3 "Sunspots"
C4 "Home"

D1 "The Line Begins To Blur"
D2 "Beside You In Time"
D3 "Right Where It Belongs"

All With Teeth era songs have been played live except "All The Love In The World" and "Sunspots", both of which have been played at soundchecks and rehearsals for the With Teeth Tour.

Poster

On a PDF file containing lyrics and credits posted to the With Teeth site, several songs were not featured on the album. All of these songs except for one contained lyrics in some form. These songs are: